The City of Greater Sudbury is experiencing an entrepreneurial boom of sorts.
A new business in the Greater Sudbury community of Chelmsford is called Nickel City Cheese.
Nicole Paquin, the founder of Nickel City Cheese, is one of a new wave of entrepreneurs in the city who are turning their passion into a business.
So how difficult is that?
"It’s very easy to be discouraged, but we went all the way and we're very glad that we did.” said Paquin.
Imran Bagha is the Youth Strategy Coordinator for Regional Business Centre.
"In some respects, it's very easy. The licensing and the legal procedures are actually a lot easier than people think it is, in order to legally start a small business. However, there are a lot of things that go into planning. So for example, knowing what your market is, knowing who exactly you're selling to." said Bagha.
Some businesses get off the ground quickly, but for Paquin, this labour of love took four years.
It's a family affair that's blossoming into a booming business.
"We said we need to start something that Sudbury needs, and the next morning at 5:30 he was coming down the stairs and he said ‘I know mom, cheese!’ I said ‘ya, come here!’ And he looked at the computer and I was researching cheese making. I started to do my cheese at home. I went to take some courses to make sure that I knew what I was doing, and eventually I went to Guelph University to get my certification as a cheese maker." said Paquin.
Nickel City Cheese has only been open for a few weeks and expansion plans are already underway.
The company is ordering more production equipment in hopes it will be able to keep up with demand, as the owners say, Sudbury loves cheese.
